A Life in the Spotlight: The Versatile Career of William J. Bruce III
1) What is your Author name; use your Pen name if you have one.
William J. Bruce III
2) What inspired you to become a writer?
Writing for me is really sort of an escape. When I get into the groove I feel like I’ privy to an exclusive movie premiere in my head that I want to share with others.
3) What is your favorite way to connect with readers? (Social media, newsletters or something else)
I’m a LinkedIn person myself. (linkedin.com/in/williamjbruceiii)
4) What is the hardest challenge in being a writer?
I’m a private person, so it can be tricky being that you need to put certain parts of your life out there in interviews and such.
5) What gives you the most satisfaction in the writing process?
Getting the project completed in spite of that voice in your head screaming to give up during the whole writing process.
6) What cover story would you love to write about in the future?
I wished I could have interviewed film producer Robert Evans. His story greatly encouraged me, and it would have been an incredible experience to sit down with him. I don’t think any other interview would have compared.
7) What is your favorite cover story that you have written?
It would have to be my first “Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Dream”. I still get excited when I see copies for sale on Ebay.
8) You are also a publicist and a producer. What drew you to those career paths?
The road to being a publicist was not necessarily an intended path (although I am glad the road of life took me there). I was originally hired to be the agent of the “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase of WWE. Being his agent sounds great on paper I guess, but I’m not a salesperson, it’s just not me to do calls to “book Ted”. So I began to think, “how can I change this so people are calling me to book Ted?”. And then the idea came to mind, “Aha, I’ll get him in as many publications as I could find”, and that helped to change the current to inbound calls, and a way for me to keep my job!
I later became a producer out of a desire to get involved with music. I love hip hop in its purest form, and I thought perhaps I could put together a mixtape (compilation album) with some up and coming artists. One of those artists went on to get signed through Capital Records. His name is FERN and at the time that I reached out to his people he had just gotten out of prison. Talk about timing!
9) What is your preferred method of reading a book? (Audio, paperback, hardcover, or eBook)
Oh I need a tangible book in my hands no doubt. Paperback is basically my go to when it comes to print books, although hard covers are definitely more sexy to look at.
I like the ebook in theory, but I’ll be honest; I’ve never read an ebook. True story.
10) Name one of your favorite authors.
Ray Bradbury
11) What is one book that is currently on your To-Be-Read list?
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
12) What is your best book memory?
When I was in grade school we read Let It Go by Marilyn Halvorson. There was a certain timing of that book in relation to another event that had happened in our class at the time. Thank you for this question. It really brings back memories of a time of innocence in my life.
13) Tell me a little bit more about your writing.
So I started writing while still a publicist. First doing press releases until later when I was given the opportunity to write for a publication that wanted to run Ted's story but didn’t have a writer for the article, so I volunteered. Later I was given the same opportunity by Ken Ramstead for another publication. Ken demanded a better story (he used to be an editor for Readers Digest). I looked at the numbers the publication had and decided it was worth doing. Not only did he publish the story, but it became the cover, my first cover story. It still feels good!
I contributed to a couple poetry anthologies and wrote my first book Penholder in 2010.
In 2022, I was blessed with the opportunity to write the intro to the 150th Anniversary Edition of Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky. This project was really important to me as I could really see that things hadn’t changed much since then, and felt a need to point out the relevance of the book in today’s world.
Currently I’m completing a novel called "Hate"(working title).
“Hate” is where I feel like I truly found my voice.
The synopsis reads: “When music promoter Irvin learns of the sudden death of a friend, he is forced to confront the haunting mystery surrounding it. As unanswered questions linger, Irvin struggles to move forward—but could this tragedy have been something far more sinister than it appears?”
14) Do you have a website? If so, what is it?
15) Where can we find and follow you? (Name your social media platforms.)
16) Is there anything important that you would want my readers to know about you?
I’m a huge Blackberry fan, always have been, always will be.
Image copyright info:
Demons courtesy of Queensbridge Publishing. Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
All other photos are courtesy of William. J. Bruce. Copyright William J. Bruce III © 2025. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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